1. Field of the invention
This invention relates to a device for aligning contacting portions of contacts, which contacts are implanted in a large number in an IC socket.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei 3-71746 discloses an IC socket including a socket body, an IC receiving section formed in the socket body, an IC placing platform upwardly and downwardly movably disposed on the IC receiving section, and a large number of contacts implanted in an array in a socket substrate portion around the IC placing platform, the IC placing platform with an IC placed thereon being moved downwardly, so that IC terminals of the IC package are elastically brought into electrical and physical contact with elastic contact elements of the contacts, respectively. In this IC socket, contact positioning holes or grooves are formed in an outer peripheral portion of the IC placing platform, the elastic contact elements are received respectively into the positioning holes or grooves, and the elastic contact elements are restricted by walls for defining the positioning holes or grooves.
The above-mentioned invention takes advantage of the provision of the IC placing platform in the IC socket, and by receiving the contacting portions of the contacts in the positioning holes or grooves formed in the IC placing platform as an IC support means, the contacting portions of the contacts are moved following the lateral movement of the IC placing platform so that the leads of the IC placed on the IC placing platform may correspond to the contacting portions of the contacts. However, since the IC placing platform constitutes the means for laterally moving the contacting portions of the contacts following the lateral movement of the IC placing platform, the prior art device inherently has a problem for making the positions of the contacting portions of the contacts normally astable relative to the socket body.
Therefore, the above device cannot be applied to an IC socket which is not equipped with (does not require) the IC placing platform. For example, it cannot be used for an IC socket of the type in which IC leads are directly placed for electrical and physical contact serving the contacting portions of the contacts as support means without the use of an IC placing platform, and it rather becomes a harmful factor.